One third of the population is now fully vaccinated because the campaign started half a year ago, when there was not even a coronavirus in the country.
Residents of the island’s Pacific kingdom of Tonga rushed to be vaccinated against covid-19 after the country registered the first case of coronavirus infection yesterday, the BBC reported. The infection was found in a fully vaccinated man who arrived on a repatriation flight from New Zealand.
Tonga Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa has warned residents of the country’s main island of Tongatapu, home to 69 percent of the population, that it could introduce a lockdown next week.
Tonga is one of the last countries in the world where the coronavirus has not reached. However, one third of its population has already been vaccinated. National Immunization Coordinator Afu Tei said thousands of people had rushed to vaccination centers to receive their first dose.
The infected passenger arrived with another 214 people from Christchurch, New Zealand. The group also included the 6-member Tonga Olympic team, stuck in New Zealand after the Tokyo Games because their home airport stopped accepting flights to prevent imports of the coronavirus. The New Zealand Ministry of Health announced that the infected passenger had a negative test before boarding the plane. But Tongan authorities tested him for his arrival on Thursday, and he tested positive.
The infected Tongan received a second dose of vaccine in mid-October, so health officials believe he will not become seriously ill. The prime minister decided to wait three days and see if there were other infected people before ordering a lockdown.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 246 million people have been infected in the world, of which 5 million have died, Johns Hopkins University announced today. Two countries – North Korea and Turkmenistan – have so far not reported any infected. But according to experts, the virus has penetrated them as well, although they do not provide such information.
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